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PS21 update week ending April 29

Firstly, apologies for getting out our weekly e-mail a couple of days late this week. We wanted to lock in arrangements for our next discussion in London on May 9 [see below]. It promises to be a seriously good discussion on the challenges of out of my station linked to the upcoming election to succeed Boris Johnson as London mayor. We look forward to seeing you there.

Last week saw three very successful defense on both sides of the Atlantic. In London, from a US national intelligence officer for Russia Fiona Hill discussed Vladimir Putin and Europe at an event in Whitehall, followed by a discussion with Young Professionals in Foreign Policy the following day on the future all of the European project. In the DC, meanwhile, we discussed the future of the NATO alliance in a conversation you can see here.

As always, happy to discuss. Huge thanks to our dedicated team on both sides of the Atlantic and I look forward to seeing you before too long. For those who take an interest in such things, I’ll be leaving Washington DC on Sunday for a few days in New York before returning to the UK. Looking forward to it.

Peter Apps

Executive director, PS21

Global Affairs Columnist, Reuters

LONDON

London and the challenge of megacities

WHEN: Monday, May 9, 2016 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

WHERE: Room S1.06 King’s College London – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

Next week, London will have a new Mayor. Whether it is Sadiq Khan or Zac Goldsmith who takes City Hall, they will inherit a city facing many challenges for the future – including pollution, overcrowding and rising living costs.

So, what’s on the new Mayor’s To Do list? How can he meet the unprecedented need for housing in a city of nearly nine million people? What role can new infrastructure play in the housing and job market? And what can London learn to do, and avoid, from other global megacities?

Jonn Elledge [moderator] – Editor of CityMetric and journalist at New Statesman

Emmanuel Akinwotu – Journalist who writes on Nigeria for the Guardian. He’s also written for the New Statesman, CityMetric, the New African Magazine and other publications. He’s reported from Lagos regularly over the last few years, covering politics, education and transport.

Nicole Badstuber – Researcher in Transport Policy and Governance for Cities at LSE Cities (London School of Economics) and Centre for Transport Studies (University College London). Nicole works on understanding the transport governance challenges for cities and complex network of actors involved in shaping transport policy at LSE Cities, and is pursuing her doctoral thesis in models of governing transport in cities across the world and their effect on transport policy at University College London.

Barney Stringer – Director of planning and socio-economic consultancy Quod. His career spans public policy, journalism and political research, with a focus on planning, transport and economic development. He writes on cities and development at barneystringer.wordpress.com.